Football Magic

When Uefa drew the balls out of the bag for the Champions League knockouts they conjured up some of the most mouth-watering matches imaginable. Top of the bill is an England-Spain double-header that pits Arsenal against Real Madrid and, in the tie of the season, Chelsea against 'football magic' Barcelona. The La Liga leaders not only want revenge for last season's defeat, they want to show their disdain for the galacticos of money-obsessed Madrid, and the functional football of mega-rich Chelsea

Football Magic

When Uefa drew the balls out of the bag for the Champions League knockouts they conjured up some of the most mouth-watering matches imaginable. Top of the bill is an England-Spain double-header that pits Arsenal against Real Madrid and, in the tie of the season, Chelsea against 'football magic' Barcelona. The La Liga leaders not only want revenge for last season's defeat, they want to show their disdain for the galacticos of money-obsessed Madrid, and the functional football of mega-rich Chelsea

Sunday 19 February 2006 06.23 EST
First published on Sunday 19 February 2006 06.23 EST

There was no dancing in the streets last week at Fuente de Cibeles, the fountain that Madrilenos traditionally flock to for celebrations. The news that Real Madrid had officially scaled the summit of football's rich list may have been an immense satisfaction, a vindication, to club president Florentino Perez. But for the ordinary Joses, financial clout is no consolation for two barren seasons, no reason to party.

It is modern football's great balancing act - the quest for sporting greatness alongside the pursuit of commercial domination. But Perez and Real have not quite got it right. The club's supporters would have gladly swapped all the mounting millions from shirt sales and television deals to avoid this season's torture of Real Madrid 0, Barcelona 3.

As a symbol of the shift in power between Spain's superpowers, last November's match at the Bernabeu was piercingly eloquent. Ronaldinho and company not only exposed painful, human flaws in the galacticos, they earned an ovation from the enemy. Footballing success always comes in cycles, and that unimaginable act of subordination was proof that Real and Barca had switched on to very different courses.

Not so long ago Real were the gods of footballing style. They inspired international admiration and awe. They were pure box office. Meanwhile their Catalan rivals bore the burden of unstable underachievement. How the tables turned that night as Ronaldinho impressed even the Madridistas. How significant it felt to watch a labouring Zinedine Zidane overshadowed by the rampaging teenager Lionel Messi. How telling to see Ronaldo, semi-fit and leaden-legged, upstaged by the electric Samuel Eto'o.

The birth of this current cycle was the summer of 2003. On Friday 13 June, Real agreed a deal with Manchester United to transfer David Beckham's personal licence to print money from Old Trafford to the Bernabeu. It was a double coup: not only did they instigate a financial windfall for a £20m fee the hierarchy toasted as 'peanuts', they also gazumped Barcelona into the bargain. Joan Laporta, the young contender for Camp Nou presidency that fateful summer, had used the prospect of signing Beckham as his election card. Laporta made it, even though he missed his number-one target.

Laporta struck a deal with a goofy-toothed Brazilian maverick who had earned a reputation for hedonism during his stint at Paris Saint-Germain. Ronaldinho was not first choice, but turned out to be the most wonderful blessing.

While Beckham represented, in theory at least, the final piece of Real's globally branded, galactico-styled jigsaw, Barcelona were a club in flux that summer. New management, new coach, new star player, new gambles all over the place. 'We had a revolution,' reflects Ferran Soriano, the club's vice president and Laporta's right-hand man. 'We had just finished sixth in the league and made a loss of €73 million. We didn't have a good team, we didn't win anything, we didn't make money. So we had a strategic choice to make. Either reduce our expenses drastically and invest moderately, or invest substantially with the hope of immediate results. That was a higher risk but we'd gone through five years without winning anything which was one of the longest periods in the club's recent history. We felt our priority was to win. And soon.'

Given their quick-fix masterplan, possibly the best decision the board made subsequently was to be patient. Frank Rijkaard got off to a demoralising start as Barca's coach. His first four Liga matches at the Camp Nou resulted in two uninspiring draws and two sorry defeats. In the early rounds of the Uefa Cup and Copa del Rey, they had scrapes against the might of SK Matador Puchov and UDA Gramanet respectively.

Two months into the campaign there were calls in the media for Rijkaard's head. Barcelona were in the habit of going through coaches at the rate of one per season. But Laporta wasn't tempted, which was just as well. Come Christmas 2003, Rijkaard's Barcelona began to purr, and they have not stopped purring since. It turns out the new board's strategic gamble could not have been more rewarding. As Soriano explains: 'When we were in a bad situation we invested €100 million on players, the bulk of which went on Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto'o. But they have created new profit of €100 million, so the investment has funded itself. That's football magic.'

The Catalans, who romped to a 5-1 home win over Real Betis last night, bring their brand of scorcery to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday for the kind of mouthwatering encounter that makes you breathe a sighof relief that the Champions League is back.

If Chelsea v Barcelona is the game to watch on Wednesday, on Tuesday night we are really spoilt for choice. If you don't fancy the desperados of Real and Arsenal, there is the heavyweight showdown between Bayern Munich and Milan, the dark horses of PSV and Lyon, or the holders Liverpool against the Benfica side who saw off Manchester United. To flick or not to flick? That is the question.

'I don't know why everyone is talking about Chelsea against Barcelona,' says Jose Mourinho. 'Look at the other games. You have Bayern Munich against Milan, these are big matches, every game looks tight. Every tie should finish in the last minute of the second leg.'

No wonder television and marketing companies fall over themselves to get in on the Champions League act and clubs obsess about qualifying. The footballing cash machine rolls on and on and on. Just ask Real Madrid.

'Real Madrid and Barcelona have different strategies,' says Soriano. 'If you look at the numbers, Real Madrid are the club with the highest turnover in Europe because they have players with very good commercial assets. But they won nothing. Not winning is a problem!' He chuckles.

Will sketchy performances on the field cause Perez to reassess his galactico philosophy? In targeting the highest-profile stars from the major leagues (Beckham from the Premiership; Zidane and Ronaldo from Serie A; and the original galactico, Luis Figo, the hottest property in La Liga) Real enjoyed their own era of football magic with three European Cups between 1998 and 2002. But their powers have waned.

Barcelona, on the other hand, prefer to cherry-pick the best performers from Europe's secondary leagues: Ronaldinho, and later Ludovic Giuly, came from France; Deco from Portugal; Henrik Larsson from Scotland; Mark van Bommel from Holland. It was a shrewd policy, as the players did not have prohibitive salaries, and did have hunger.

Until the beginning of February, Barcelona wove together a spectacular sequence of 17 Liga and Champions League victories. Retaining their domestic title looked a formality until they stumbled to successive defeats recently against Valencia and Atletico Madrid. Coincidentally, Ronaldinho was suspended for both matches, while Deco and Eto'o missed one each. Barca's holy trinity should all be restored in time to visit Chelsea.

It is the most tantalising of European grudge matches, coming so soon after last season's raging, impassioned tango. The people's club against the oligarch's, and Barcelona's general distaste for Chelsea's ideology is undiminished. Would Soriano's club accept winning mechanically à la Mourinho? 'Absolutely not,' he says, wincing. 'If a results-orientated coach came to Barcelona and said he would sacrifice Ronaldinho or Messi to have a more robust team, he would not be hired. Our fans want to watch good football. And remember who owns the club - 135,000 members. Chelsea are the exact opposite.'

As it happens Barcelona are slightly more robust than they were a year ago, thanks to all-round strengthening of the squad. Edmilson, who was injured for most of last season, has beefed up the holding midfield role, and that has allowed Rafael Marquez to return to more defensive duties. Van Bommel also knows how to tackle. They concede fewer sloppy goals. Is it enough to pass the Chelsea test? One thing is sure, if it isn't Soriano and friends will not take it well. 'In the next five years this team needs to win the Champions League badly,' he says.

This week's encounter might brew a little more bile if rumours emerge about Chelsea preparing bids for selected Barca stars. Soriano is not having it. 'Three years ago I would have worried we might lose players, but not now. It's important to point out they are not driven only by money. It's hard to believe but I assure you it's true. If you are well paid - and our salaries are competitive - then issues like the city, the potential to win trophies, the culture of the club become important. Two of our players have preferred us to Chelsea for these reasons. Deco chose us, and Ronaldinho was tempted several times but decided to stay with us.'

Has Roman Abramovich's regime affected Barcelona's business? 'Chelsea have been a market disturbance,' says Soriano. 'They invest more than logic allows in their players. They lost £140m last year. Nobody else can do that. The rest of us take decisions based on the logic of business. Theirs is the logic of a rich owner.' Soriano cannot resist pointing out that a few years previously the market disturbance was caused by Real Madrid, when they sold their training ground to wipe out debts and fund the galactico experiment. They made over £300m from a deal with the government that conspiracy theorists suspect was too cosy. 'Can you imagine that?' Soriano exclaims mischievously.

Barcelona, for all their bristling pride and ambition, know the sporting cycle is never eternal. Real Madrid have enjoyed a recent renaissance. Since the turn of the year, under new coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro, the colour has returned to their cheeks, the verve to their game. With the exception of one shocking aberration in the Cup at Zaragoza (a 6-1 pasting), they have scored plenty of goals, found some much-needed resilience, and put together a sequence of victories.

Zidane has awoken from his daze, Robinho has found his niche, Cicinho has injected fresh impetus, and at the back, Jonathan Woodgate and the thunderous Sergio Ramos look as good a defensive pairing as Real have had for eons. While Arsenal fancied their chances when the draw was made, the form book now favours Real. Arsenal require an unexpectedly zestful performance to get back on the trail of Arsene Wenger's holy grail.

Seldom has the Champions League last 16 thrown up so much intrigue, so many enticing encounters. It is a refreshing contrast to the lack of tension around Europe's top leagues, where a series of individual processions are under way. Chelsea, Juventus and Bayern Munich all command double-figure leads over what passes for a chasing pack in England, Italy and Germany. Lyon and Barcelona - probably the most attractive teams in club football - have cushions in Spain and France that look too comfortable to be swept from under such talented feet. At least the Champions League should serve up some serious drama.